Psychiatric consultation for patients with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

The study describes 260 persons referred over a 12-year period for psychiatric consultation after shooting themselves. The population consisted primarily of young, white men between the ages of 20 and 29. The abdomen was the most common site of injury for both sexes. Previous suicide attempts and past psychiatric histories were uncommon, but alcohol was involved in 25% of cases. Major depression and alcohol abuse were the most common psychiatric diagnoses. Tasks for the psychiatric consultant include dealing with reactions of hospital staff, instituting appropriate suicide precautions, determining future suicidality and psychiatric disposition, and helping patients cope with family reactions to the suicide attempt and with the psychological effects of disfiguring injuries.